Bottle crate



Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,617

' R. D. TYLER BOTTLE CRATE Filed Aug. 9, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet Nmr. 13; E928? R; D. TYLER BOTTLE CRATE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 9, 1926 gwuwhtoz Roy 13 162 Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,691,617 PATENT OFFICE- ROY n. TYLER, or sr. PAUL, mnnnso'ra, ASSIGNOR r G. H. TENNANT comrany, or

MINNEAPOLIS, mmnasoram CORPORATION;

BOTTLE CRATE.

Application filedAugust 9, 1926. Serial No. 128,098.

and more particularly to .provide a crate of a long wearing nature having features :0 most desirable in an article ofthis nature.

A feature of my invention resides in the edge or runner memberswhich are made of metal of a channel shape, being formed so as todove-tail alon the bottom of the side walls to provide a s oe or protection to the lower edge of the crate and whichare provided with end tongues adapted to extend and engage with the corner reinforcing strips so that the tongues are locked by the corner members on the ends in addition to the dove-tail attachment of the same. These reinforcing strips along the bottom as. of the side wall of the crate also provide a support and reinforcement for the cross rods whichextend through the crate walls-near the bottom edge thereof. a

It is also a feature of my' invention to rovide wooden spacingblocks which are eld by cross rods in a manner so as to' support the jar or weight that comes against the same by the rods which provide the necessary resiliency so as protect the bottles held in the crate. The center blocks extend below the other blocks and are 3 adapted to be supported by longitudinal reinforcing rods and-supports with spacer means extending between these blocks,

which spacers are looped over the-rod extending through the blocks and-adapted to be engaged by transversely extending rods which form the bottom against which the bottles rest when in place in my crate. The wooden spacing blocks help to absorb the jar of the bottle centrally of the crate and the resilient, wire bottoms permit the bottles to be sufiiciently resiliently held 'so as to provide a crate'wherein the bottles are so held as to be protected against being broken.

'My' invention includes a corner reinforcing member having portions extending-down over the bottom corner and up to provide inner corner engaging tongues which are adapted to be secured to the inner corner 'memberand firml riveted together, thereby providing a rein orc'ed corner and at the same time forming means for holding the tongues of the channel members which extend along the bottom of the sidewalls of the crate. These crates are subject to considerable wear and tear as they are pushed around in the crcamery and it is necessary that they be made sufficiently strong to withstand this usage and to be sufiiciently rigid to protect the bottles held therein. The

- corner members are formed with projecting lugs so that the crates may be piled one upon the other, these lugs forming projections so as to engage with the bottom of the superimposed crate and thus hold the crates in line one uponthe otherr 'The sides of my crate are preferably made of a series of slats which are connected. together and which are held in place by the supporting and reinforcing rods extending longitudinally and transversely, these rods forming the bottom for the compartments for the individual bottles and the supporting means for the spacing blocks, while at the same timereinforcing the sides of the crate. The corner members reinforce the connecting ends of the side walls and at the same time assist in holding them together.

These features, together with other details of construction and particular objects of ,my invention will be more fully and clearly. set forth in the specification and claims.

.In the drawings forming part of this' Figure-4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective of a corner of my crate, a portion of which is broken away and illustrated in cross section. y

Figure 6 is a perspective of a portion of my crate.

Figure crate.

Figure 8 is a similar section to Figure .7, showing a slightly different construction in the drawing.

My milk bottle crate A is designed of a simple construction having side walls 10 andend walls 11 which are, made up of a series of slat members 12 so as to provide the side walls 10 and the'ends 11.

easy assembly of the crates from standard parts previously prepared and made up.

The top slat 12 of the crate A is adapted to A be spaced from the lower slats in a manner to form an opening such as 13 in. the walls 10 and 11 which permit the crate, to be easily engaged so as to lift or carry the same, This also provides a space to permitithe air circulation through the crate, partidularly when the c ratesare set one upontheother as is' illustrated by a portion of the crate A in dotted outline set up in the crate illustrated in Figure 2.

In making up the crate A of the slats 12, the lowermost slats are provided with a channel-shaped reinforcing member 15 made of metal or other suitable material and having the side walls 16 dove-tailed into the lower edge 17 of the slat to attach the reinforcing member or shoe 15' to the lower edge of the slats forming the walls 10 and 11. This provides a reinforced lower edge about the entire crate A.

The channel-shaped reinforcing lnembers 15 are provided with tongues 18 on the ends of the same which are formed by cutting away the bottom portion of the channel members15 leaving a very thin web-like portion 19 connecting the tongues 18. Before cutting away the bottom portion of the ends to form the tongues 18 of the channels 15, a saw-cut slot 20 is formed in the lower edge of the channel members 15 adjacent the ends. This forms a gauge to determine the length of the tongues 18 and also forms a stop shoulder which will be hereinafter described.

Each of the corners of my crate' A is provided with outer members B which are angular in shape and are formed of suitable metal having the edges 22 turned inward into a saw-cut groove formed along in the slats 12 and to provide a smooth connection of the corner member with the slats down along each corner of the crate A.

The corner members B are formed on their lower end with an inwardly projecting portion 23 which projects across the corner of the bottom of the crate and is miter-cut at 24 so as to bifurcate the ends of the channel and permit the folding of theends 25 on the inner side of the corner. The corners of the crate A are provided with an inner corner angle member C which extends down to the portion 23 and which is adapted to be engaged on its lower end by the ends 25 which 'are turned up against the lower end of the corner member C. By means of suit able rivets 26 the outer corner member 13 with its ends 25 are clamped firmly through in the corners to attach the bifurcated ends with the portions25 firmly against the inner angle member C. This provides a 'very' rigid, firm construction at the corners of the crate or the crate A, reinforcing the corners in a manner sons to provide a very stron construction. The rivets or bolts 26 exten through the lower slats 12 and firmly lock.

the parts together at the corner;

In attaching the inner corner member C with the outer corner member B at the bottom edge of the crate, when the .end flaps 25 are folded in over the bottom of the corner of the crate, these flaps are of the same width as the cut-away portion 19 of the ends of vides a crate with a smooth bottom, yet having strong reinforced corners which will stand considerable wear and tear in the use of the crate.

The channel reinforcing edges 15 may be formed with one side wall such as 16 longer than the other, as illustrated in Figure 8, so that this long side 16' may be positioned on the outside of the crate to provide an outer wide reinforcing strip about the entire crate. i

The inner corner'members G are formed with upperprojecting lugs 28 which are of wood or other suitable nonmetallic ma-' terial to provide spacers to divide the crate for the bottles and to provide bottle compartments. I have'also provided spacing blocks 31 which are centrally disposed between the blocks 30 and which are of a longer nature, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

The blocks 30 have longitudinal rods 32 extending through the same which extend through the ends 11 of the crate and are riveted thereto so as to-support the blocks longitudinally of the crate and to form partitions for the bottle compartments. Additional supporting rods 33 extend through the blocks 30 and 31 transversely to the rods 32 so that by means of the rods 32 and 33 bottle compartments E are formed in the crate A. In my drawings I have illustrated loo the crate A with a series of twelve compartments for individual bottles.

Below the compartments E I have provided a pair of parallel rods 35 which extend longitudinally of the crate A and each pair of which are positioned in line to provide bottom portions for the respective compartments E, so that there are three pairs of rods 35 extending longitudinally of the crate A and which are riveted in the end walls 11 near the top of the reinforcing channel 15. Thus the reinforcing channel 15 also reinforces the lower slats on the ends 15 so that the. attachment of the rods 35, which must be close to the bottom, will not split the lower edge of the slat and which will assist in carrying the load that the rods 35 must carry when the crate A is full of bottles.

The long center blocks 31 perform a very important function in my crate by extending down low enough in the crate to permit the transverse rod 36 to pass through the same. This rod 361s adapted to carry the channelsupportin spacers 37 which loop over the rod 36 an through which the rods 35 extend. These spacers 37 are placed between the sides 10 and the center blocks 31 on the outer sides of the crate A, while the center spacing channel 37 is placed between the two blocks 31. This structure provides a central supporting means for the rods 35 which is adapted to direct the load of the rods 35 to the longitudinal rods 32 and the transverse rods 33 through the blocks 31 through which the rods 32 and 33 will pass. By this crate reinforcing means which extends transversely and longitudinally of the crate with these spacing blocks 30 and 31, I provide a crate structure of a very strong and durable nature, yet permitting suilicient flexibility for the compartments E so that the bottom rods 35 will give sufliciently to prevent the breaking of the bottles under ordinary strain and to permit suificient resiliency so that in handling the bottlesin the crate A they will not ordinarily be broken. The nonmetallic spacing blocks 30 and 31 naturally assist in this as they hold' the bottles so spaced apart that they will not strike with any degree of force against the sides formed by the rods 32 and 33 and thus holding the bottles practically against the wooden blocks 30 and 31 and the wooden sides 10 and 11 and spacing them apart in the compartments E to prevent breaking of the same. The bottles may be turned upside down for washing and the crates are so constructed as to stand the heat from the steam in the washing of the bottles, together with the entire crate, or to permit the crate to be slid along easily on the floor without any danger of it being split or broken under ordinary use.

In this manner I provide a crate longitudinally and transversely reinforced by the rods, together with the blocks and spacing, members 37; while the corners are strengthened by the inner angle member C and the outer angle member B with the overlapping corner flaps 25 which are firmly riveted by the rivets 26 and the lower edges fully protected by the channel members ,15 which are locked with the end tongues 18 beneath the lower edge of the corner members A and firmly secured to the inner and outer corner members. This provides a simple practical structure for a milk bottle crate which will be very durable and of such a nature as to provide a long wearing bottle carrier. Dairies and creameries have foundthat my crate is most desirable owing to the simple and inexpensive structure, yet having very strong reinforcing means at the bottom corners and along the lower edge to fully protect the crate.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my crate and while I have endeavored to illustrate the best embodiment thereof in the drawings, the structure shown is only suggestive of a means of carrying out my invention and I desire to have it understood -that the same may be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. A bottle crate including, sides made of a series of slat members, inner and outer Corner reinforcing members adapted to be clamped together to hold said slat members in place, reinforcing channel members dovetailed onto the lower edge of said side walls,

cut out port-ions formed on said reinforcing members, and means formed on said outer reinforcing corner members adapted to overlap said out out portions to rigidly secure the ends of said reinforcing members in the corners of said crate.

2. A crate having side and end members, inner angle members, outer angle members, the outer angle members having bifurcated ends to provide inwardly folding flaps adapted .to be secured to the inner angle members, reinforcing channel members for the lower edge of the side and end members, out out portions in said reinforcing channel membersdefining shoulders and said bifurcated ends being locked in position by said shoulders.

3. A crate having side and end members, inner angle members, outer angle members, the lower ends of said outer angle members having integral flaps thereon adapted to be secured to the inner angle members, a U- shaped reinforcing member for the lower edge of the side and end members, out out ortions in said U-shaped reinforcing memers at the ends thereof with which said flaps are adapted to engage.

4. A crate having side and end members, inner angle members, outer angle members, integral flaps upon said outer angle members adapted to be secured to the inner angle angle corner members, reinforcingchan'nelmembers for the lower edges of said side and end members, cut away portions in sald reinforcing channel members at the ends thereof, and flap portions extending from said angle corner members adapted to fold over the cut away portions of said channel members and riveted to said side and end members to form a corner joint wherein said flaps provide a reinforcing wearing edge at the corners flush with the bottom of said channels.

6. A crate including, side and end portions, reinforcing channels for the lower ed es of said side and end portions, having a ottom wearing edge, the wearing edge of the end portions of said channels being cut away, angle corner members for said side and end members having flaps for extendin over the cut away portion of said channe members to provide a wearing edge at the-corners of said crate which extends approximately in the same plane with the wearing edge of said channels.

ROY D. TYLER. 

